Book Review: Taking Flight by Colleen Young

The trouble with growing up is that you have to figure out who you want to be…

As if moving out of her parents' house and away from her hometown wasn’t scary enough, Cory Sorrano finds herself at Southern Gulf University not knowing a soul on campus. She is chasing her childhood dreams of becoming a female pilot in the male-dominated aviation industry and already feeling the pressure to succeed.

On the first day of class, Cory quite literally bumps into Samson Wallis, a fellow Aviation major who is easy on the eyes but has an equally gorgeous girlfriend back home in Virginia. As the two help each other navigate through the ups and downs of their freshman year in college, people around them can’t help but notice their unmistakable chemistry.

As Cory struggles to understand her magnetic friendship with Samson, she also needs to make sense of her complicated relationship with her dark and mysterious flight instructor, Cole Turner. Will she ever be able to make it as a female pilot with all of these handsome distractions surrounding her?

Taking Flight is the first book of the Taking Flight Trilogy by author Colleen Young. This book follows Cory Sorrano as she heads off to her first year of college where she will study to become a pilot. She meets Samson, also in school to become a pilot. The two hit it off right away and become really good friends. There is an obvious attraction that they both have for each other but they also respect their friendship enough to not jump into anything. There is also Cory’s flight instructor Cole who is a bit of an enigma to Cory, but the attraction between the two of them is obvious from the start. Unlike other stories I have read before where there is a love triangle of sorts I didn’t find myself necessarily routing for one guy or the other. I really liked both guys and thought it was well written from a realistic point of view, where one guy doesn’t have to be the villain while the other is the hero who the girl has to end up with. Although both guys are very different personality wise, and Cory’s interactions with each has a different vibe, they are both truly good characters who would make good fits for her.

I didn’t really know what to expect about the tone and flow of this book when I started, but I quickly learned that it was a story that felt like a breath of fresh air. I say this because it is funny in a very natural and realistic way. Cory acts like a normal girl. She has some very funny interactions with her family that left me laughing out loud. She is also not your typical damsel in distress who needs to be saved by the boy she likes. She isn’t shy and reserved, and she doesn’t let stupid misunderstandings unnecessarily drag out in order to cause drama between characters. Cory is funny, she speaks her mind, she can hang with the boys, yet she also can be girly when she is around a guy she likes. I loved her sharp wit and great comebacks. I really liked her character. I felt like I could relate with her more than any other female character I have read about on a really realistic human level.

This story has it all…comedy, love, lust, growing pains and more. If you are looking for something that has a great story plot and all the above things I listed then this book is for you. I can’t wait for the next book to come out so I can see where Cory, Samson and Cole end up. The story ended unresolved and open ended so there is so much more to come and I want to know it all now! I give this story 4 stars. Great, great book!